The meaning of the prosopopoeia of Laws in Platoʼs "Crito"

• Main Author: Eduardo Esteban Magoja
• Format: Article
• Language: deu
• Published: Universidad Complutense de Madrid 2015-05-01
• Series: Anales del Seminario de Historia de la Filosofía
• Subjects: Critón; derecho; nómos; obediencia; prosopopeya de las Leyes.
• Online Access: http://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/ASHF/article/view/48678

The purpose of this paper is to make a study of the personification of the Laws (<em>nomoi</em>) of Athens in Platoʼs <em>Crito</em> from the philosophy of law. The prosopopoeia of the Laws is a central aspect to understand the play, as they start an imaginary dialogue with Socrates in which various philosophical arguments are exposed to base the authority of the <em>polis</em>. In order to identify the argumentative value of this resource in the play, firstly I will analyze the meaning of <em>nomos </em>in the Athens of the 5th century BC, and secondly the nature of the Laws in the general context of the dialogue. It aims to show the importance of the Laws to explain Socratesʼ decision to drink the hemlock.